In U.S. Pat. No. 3,636,611, issued Jan. 25, 1972, to Irving W. Rosenbaum, entitled "Apparatus for Splicing Wires" and assigned to the assignee of the instant invention, there is disclosed apparatus for automatically forming, driving and crimping an electrically conductive splice about a pair of wires which are to be mechanically and electrically connected thereby. A significant advantage of the apparatus described in the Rosenbaum patent is the fact that the apparatus employs a continuous supply strip and automatically forms, drives and crimps the splice formed therefrom in one continuous operation. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,261, issued Sept. 20, 1971, to I. Zahn, et al, and assigned to the assignee of the instant invention, there is disclosed apparatus for automatically forming, driving and crimping a terminal about the end of a wire in one continuous operation and with the employment of a continuous supply strip. Likewise, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,860, issued Nov. 26, 1974, to I. Zahn, et al, and assigned to the assignee of the instant invention, there is disclosed apparatus for automatically forming, driving and crimping a strain relief splice about the end of a wire in one continuous operation and with the employment of a continuous supply strip. Other patents issued to the assignee of the present invention relate to the application of insulated splices which are formed, driven and crimped about the ends of one or more wires in a continuous operation and with the employment of a continuous supply strip.
Although the structures of the aforementioned patents have met with commercial success, there have been drawbacks associated with such apparatus which the instant invention seeks to eliminate.
For example, in each of the aforementioned structures, a pair of former bars are reciprocally driven to form a generally U-shaped configuration. Reciprocally mounted for sliding motion between the former bars is a driving ram which acts to drive the U-shaped configuration into a clinching die and about the wire or wires about which the crimped splice is to be applied. The former bars and driving ram are operated off of separate drive cams, each include separate linking structure to connect the appropriate drive cam with the former bars or driving ram respectively, and such drive cams and linking mechanisms must be timed with respect to one another to achieve the desired sequence of operations.
It can be appreciated that such complexity is not only undesirable from its own point of view, but increases the risk of potential break-down, and encourages a certain degree of sloppiness or "play", especially over extended periods of use.
Another potential area of concern associated with the apparatus of the aforementioned patents relates to the feeding mechanism for sequentially advancing lengths of the continuous supply band into the forming station of the apparatus. A pair of feed cams are rotated, once for each cycle of operation, to sandwich the supply band therebetween for a limited degree of their travel, and thereby advance a preselected length of the supply band into the forming station where it is severed, formed, driven and clinched. Here, again, the inclusion of a positively actuated feed mechanism which must be synchronized with the remaining portions of the apparatus increases the risk and incidence of malfunction. Additionally, the supply band itself has been generally in the form of an endless coil of wire which is hung on a spindle and, thereafter, must be threaded through the aforementioned cam wheels, a series of tubular guides, and then finally into the forming station of the apparatus itself. Such a procedure is not only time consuming, but requires a certain degree of dexterity and competence which is not necessarily possessed by the average worker employing such apparatus on a production line.